Animal Communication
communication
the transfer of
information using
signals
Why
communicate?
Individual qualities, states
and motivations are often
imperceptible
Communication allows individuals
to reveal their qualities, states, or
motivations to receivers
I am a Signal
Signal
great dad! I am
smar Individual qualities are often not
t! Signals evolve as perceivable
perceivable
indicators of hidden qualities
m ! Signals evolve as perceivable
I a althy indicators of hidden qualities
he
I am a Signal
Signal
great dad! I am
smar Individual qualities are often not
t! Signals evolve as perceivable
perceivable
indicators of hidden qualities
m ! Signals evolve as perceivable
I a althy indicators of hidden qualities
he
Male Bowerbirds build
elaborate bowers to
communicate what…
[Link]
Communication
transfer of information about the
signaler or its environment via signals
the signaler produces a signal
the transfer of information influences
the behavior of the receiver
the receiver’s behavior is altered by
the information (present or future)
Information
a reduction of uncertainty
achieved by the code or pattern in a signal
-Change in time: On/Off
-Change in space:
light moves in a
stereotyped pattern
Information = a reduction of uncertainty
achieved by the code or pattern in a signal
What is a signal?
a perceptible behavior or trait
a signal has a physical form
(sound, color, odor, movement, etc )
the physical form encodes information about
the signaler or its environment
“any behavioral, physiological, or
morphological trait that has been
a signal is fashioned or maintained by natural
selection because it conveys information
to other organisms”
-- Otte, 1974
the red plumage of the
male house finch
The red plumage comes from
carotenoid pigments
Birds must obtain the carotenoids
from certain foods
Male’s ability to obtain carotenoids and put
them into his feathers indicates his health
and genetic quality
A male’s redness is a signal: contains
information about the male’s quality
Signals are
adaptive traits:
evolve in the context of
increasing the signaler’s
survival and reproductive
success
Receivers must benefit too,
otherwise why pay attention to
signals?
Signal: Cue:
behavioral, physiological, or morphological structure or behavior produced by one
trait that has been fashioned or organism that can affect the behavior of
maintained by natural selection because other organisms, but did not evolve for
it conveys information to other organisms this purpose
Basic model of Non-target receivers
communication
Signaler Receiver
SIGNAL
information
Environment
Decision and
response
What kinds of information
are conveyed by
communication signals?
Quality Motivation
Information: Information:
•Potential mate, parent •Warning, threat
•Fighting ability •Motivation to fight, flee, mate
•Dominance •Hunger or other need
•Health •Danger
•Escape ability •Availability of food resource
Size of “antlers” of the antlered fly and fallow deer bucks
Size of the UV skin
patch of male
collared lizards
Call frequency of the barking gecko
Quality: signals of male fighting ability
Antennal fencing in field crickets
Wing waving in swamp
sparrows
Motivation:
signals of willingness to
Quiet song in songbirds
escalate or to fight
Getting the message across
signal transmission and the environment
Basic model of communication
Environment
signaler Signal receiver
information
benefits benefits
from Information degraded or from
signaling distorted receiving
the signal
air, water or solid substrate
A signal’s ACTIVE SPACE
The volume of medium in which a receiver can
detect and recognize a signal
A signal does not
function outside of its
active space active space
A signal’s ACTIVE SPACE
The volume of medium in which a receiver can
detect and recognize a signal
Three types of physical forces that reduce/affect a signal’s
active space:
ATTENUATION
MASKING
DEGRADATION
Sound is a
pressure wave
Moving air particles back
and forth creating crests
and troughs
ATTENUATION
reduction in signal intensity with propagation
Intensity loss follows the
inverse square law:
intensity halves for each
doubling of distance
ATTENUATION
reduction in signal intensity with propagation
Frequency-dependent attenuation:
lower frequencies travel farther
signal wave frequency
-Waves traveling through the
environment are absorbed by molecular
vibrations in the medium
-Higher frequency waves are absorbed
over shorter distances
near far
distance
signal travels
ATTENUATION
reduction in signal intensity with propagation
Frequency-dependent attenuation:
lower frequencies travel farther
receiver signaler
higher frequencies
lower frequencies
What can we predict about acoustic signals that are designed to travel long distances?
ATTENUATION
reduction in signal intensity with propagation
Visual signals
-Light and sound transmission
affected by similar environmental
factors, i.e. absorption by medium
-Availability and qualities of ambient
light are important
ATTENUATION
reduction in signal intensity with propagation
Chemical signals propagate by:
DIFFUSION CURRENT FLOW
Transmission of chemical signals is highly dependent
on:
-rate of diffusion of the chemical molecule in
its medium
-current flow of the medium
BARRIERS and DEGRADATION
solid objects between signaler and receiver
signal
source
Acoustic signals in dense environments:
-Lower frequencies
-Shorter notes
-Larger gaps between notes
BARRIERS and DEGRADATION
solid objects between signaler and receiver
Visual signals
Heavily degraded/masked by objects in the receiver’s line of sight
Acoustic signals
Degraded by objects between the signaler and receiver
Chemical and electrical signals
Can bend around solid objects in the medium
MASKING
signal is obscured by other energy in the
same modality, i.e., NOISE
Acoustic signals
MASKING
signal is obscured by other energy in the
same modality, i.e., NOISE
Visual signals
-There is always “noise” so contrast is
important
-Signalers are selected to produce a
signal that presents a contrasting
image
Brightness, hue, pattern, movement
Signal reliability in animal communication
Why not lie?
Basic model of communication
Environment
signaler Signal receiver
information
benefits from benefits from
signaling information degraded receiving the signal
Communication
transfer of information about the
signaler or its environment via signals
signaler Should the receiver
benefits from
signaling
information be benefits from
receiving the signal
honest?
Organisms do not always have
identical evolutionary interests in
a signaling interaction
Evolutionary interest: what is to the
benefit or advantage of an
individual organism:
survival and reproductive success
Interests may be overlapping,
divergent, or opposed.
Evolutionary conflict of interest
Overlapping interests
Divergent interests
Opposed interests
Overlapping
interests
Examples:
•-genetic relatives
•-parent-offspring
Divergent
interests
Example:
•potential mates
•mated partners
Opposed interests
Example: competitors
Information and signal reliability can be high if conflicts of
interest between senders and receivers are low
“Dance language” of honeybees Waggle run
-haplodiploid sex determination =
males develop from unfertilized eggs and are haploid, and
females develop from fertilized eggs and are diploid
-high levels of relatedness
-full sisters are related by ¾
Dance provides reliable information
on direction, distance, and quality of
a food source
Differing interests will affect the reliability
of signals
Reliable signal: there is a correlation between some
characteristic of the signal and some attribute of
the signaler or its environment that the receiver
benefits from knowing about
Deception: the correlation between a signal
characteristic and the signaler’s attribute is broken,
and the signaler benefits from this breakdown
Graphical representation of “reliable” signaling
strong
Signal characteristic
weak
poor superior
Signaler attribute
Graphical representation of deceptive signaling
strong
Signal characteristic
weak
actual perceived
poor superior
Signaler attribute
Female house finches prefer
to mate with red males
Female house finches associate more with
brighter red males…
… and red plumage color
predicts resistance to disease
Change in eye swelling
from Hill 1990, Hill and Farmer 2005 Plumage hue
If female house finches prefer redder males,
why aren’t all males equally bright red?
This is a key evolutionary puzzle!